DP Ruto and Raila Odinga helped me pay for my bail, reveals business man Don Bosco Gichana

Image result for don bosco gichana

Flamboyant business man Don Bosco Gichana has spoken for the first time after been released from jail in tanzania where he was held for five years.

According to Mr. Gichana, “Being back home after five years and six months is like being born again. I feel so happy I cannot explain it.”

Mr Gichana had been charged with money laundering, which he pleaded guilty to three weeks ago before the High Court in Arusha.

Image result for don bosco gichana

While speaking in an interview  Mr Gichana said, “The court said I pay the TSh300 million (Sh13.3 million) fine within one month or serve time in jail. I was not given prison number because they knew I had not begun serving time,” said Mr Gichana.

He further added saying, the time he was sent to prison, he was not allowed to eat food brought to him from outside the correctional facility.

“I was now eating purely prison food, maharagwe (beans) and ugali. I also started going out to the farm like any other convicts.”

Image result for don bosco gichana

He also noted that the Deputy President William Ruto, opposition leader Raila Odinga, Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and Mr Oscar Sudi, among others are the people who helped him pay of his bail.

In addition he said, “I was not expecting the fine to be that big because of the period that I had been in custody. It was a very painful decision for me to make (plead guilty), but under the circumstances, that was the only way out.”

He noted that Kisii Governor James Ongwae was the only leader from his home county who assisted him in paying the fine despite many promises from others.

 

The flamboyant politician says his troubles started in 2013 after the General Election when he decided to go to Tanzania to visit Mr Median Mwale, a friend still in prison, who had been accused of similar charges

His mission was to see how he could secure his release by talking to some leaders.

On his journey back, Mr Gichana said that upon arriving at Namanga border on the Tanzanian side, he was arrested.

He was, thereafter, taken to Arusha Police Station and later to Dar es Salaam.

“I later met an officer investigating Mr Mwale’s case who interrogated me, saying I was involved in fraud,” said Mr Gichana.

Image result for don bosco gichana

They believed money in a bank account they were investigating was tax refunds from the US in a fraud scheme.

“After two weeks, I was taken to Kisutu Law Courts where I was charged with conspiracy and money laundering,” said Mr Gichana.

He describes Tanzania’s justice system as 20 years behind compared to the Kenyan one.

He has been prohibited from entering Tanzania. “But I am not interested in going there,” said the politician, who vied for Kitutu Chache South parliamentary seat in 2013.

He is currently in Mombasa with his wife and two children whom he says he had missed them so much.

The businessman said despite having been away for long, he used to get updates on what was happening in the country through the media and people who visited him.

Image result for don bosco gichana

According to Mr Gichana, no politician from Kisii or Nyamira County ever visited him in prison but said many ordinary people came to see him.

“Only Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka visited me in prison and offered through his lawyers pro bono legal advice.”

So, does he still harbour political ambitions? The businessman said he will contest for a county political seat in the 2022 elections.

“Before 2013 polls, leaders called me to work with them but after I was arrested, they thought that I would not be of any benefit. But I am telling them to wait for my homecoming. I am capable of marshalling not less than a million votes,” said Mr Gichana.

He said after his homecoming, he will be open for consultations with other political leaders.

“We are waiting for two religious leaders before we get the date for homecoming which shall coincide with a memorial mass for my late mum,” concluded Mr Gichana.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *